Man Enough
by AquilaTempestas
Summary: Voltaire convinces his old pal Boris to date again. Boris sets his eyes on a certain intelligent blonde...


**Disclaimer**

The rights to Beyblade belong to Takao Aoki.

**Title**

Man Enough

**Summary**

Voltaire convinces his old pal Boris to date again. Boris sets his eyes on a certain intelligent blonde...

**Special Thanks**

Shout out to my good friend Nirianne for listening to my crazy ideas for this story!

**.**

_Boris Waldo Balkov. This is your life._

He stared at his reflection in the mirror observing his downtrodden look. He was in his early forties, and desperate for a bit of fun. Fun had disappeared when he starting working at the BBA College. So why stay? The paycheck was reasonable enough. Five days a week in hell was a complete chore for Boris. He hated getting up at that godforsaken time of seven in the morning just so he could get to school on time. Seven was early for his friends, but Boris had to ensure he spent at least an hour every day making sure he looked good. After all, he was the principal. In his view, the school only looked as good as the principal did.

It was Friday today, Friday night to be specific. Friday was significant for a number of things. Firstly, it was the end of the school week. And secondly, it meant a late night with the boys. Every Friday night Boris would drop by the local bar and socialize with his friends. Yes, Boris had friends. Not that it was surprising though, Boris just had an aura of godliness around him, so naturally people wanted to befriend him.

It was the gift of being incredibly sexy.

"Ah, you're finally here!" said Voltaire, waving across from the bar. He was sitting at a large round table fit for five people.

Boris noticed his other friends were also present. On Voltaire's right, sat Barthez. Boris didn't hold Barthez in high regard. The guy seemed to be trying way too hard to be like him. He dyed his hair purple for gods sake! But rather than cause trouble, Boris pretended to enjoy his company. "Hello," he said, gliding towards the table.

Stanley and Gramps filled the other two seats leaving the last one for Boris. Stanley used to be the former principal but he retired due to old age. Now he worked at the lawn bowls club as the newspaper editor while gramps spent his time at the YMCA. Boris never imagined he would be sitting in the same room as them considering their history, but here he was. "What's been keeping you?" Stanley asked, smiling up at Boris, whilst stroking his moustache.

"Oh, nothing much," said Boris, as he sat down besides Voltaire.

Barthez leaned forward, a mischievous grin on his ugly face. "We were just talking about you, Boris."

Boris lifted a brow, confused. "I hope you were only speaking of good things."

The grin remained. "We were thinking... that you ought to date again. You know, it's been awhile since you were with anyone."

Boris frowned. "I thought we made a promise not to speak about this again. You know that relationship I had with that woman was never going to work out." Just the mention of it brought back bad memories. The fallout was one of the main reasons he turned 'bad' in the first place. The woman he was with cheated on him with Lee's grandfather. Dirty old geezer.

Now it was Voltaire's turn to speak. "You're still young, Boris. You don't want to end up like me. Sad and lonely," he said, hanging his head down, hands placed on lap. Voltaire was only fifty-five but he seemed much older due to all the stressful life he lived. He was the owner of Hiwatari Enterprises, a multi-billion dollar furniture company. The man had suffered a lot of hardship in his life.

"I think you should go for it, Boris," Gramps said.

The others nodded encouragingly.

But did Boris want to date again? He hadn't shared any intimate moments with a member of the opposite gender since starting up the Abbey many long years ago. He didn't want to love again. Too much heartbreak. He feared dating again would only send him down that dangerous path he had only recently pulled himself out of. "I don't want to risk it." Besides, there weren't any available women that interested him anyway.

Voltaire nudged him. "What about Judy?"

Judy? Wasn't she that bitchy scientist working for that creep, Douglas of the PBB All-Stars? "The scientist and coach?" Boris said aloud.

"Yeah, her. She's over there at the counter ordering a drink. I think you should make a move on her," Barthez encouraged, smirking.

Boris grabbed himself a glass and poured a drink of Vodka, then took a quick swallow. Spend time and effort conversing with Judy? That seemed dangerous. "Isn't she married?"

Gramps shook his head. "Nah, she broke up with Trevor many years ago."

"Trevor?" Boris repeated.

"That's the name of Max's dad... or at least his code name. I think his name is Taro or something, but I like calling him Trevor," the eldest Granger replied. "I hear she's looking for love again."

Voltaire gave him a quizzical look. "How did you know that?"

"People at the YMCA like to talk."

Awkward silence.

Then...

"Why would she bother spending time talking to me?" Boris asked, turning his gaze in Judy's direction. She _would _be quite interesting... she was a tall, beautiful and intelligent woman. He imagined discussions with her would be quite interesting. They both shared an interest in science. "Hmm... now that you mention it..." Would Judy fall for the Boris charm? A slow smirk crossed his face.

"That's the spirit, now go get her!" Barthez said, giving Boris a gentle push. Boris glided across the floor towards Judy, debating what words to say. He thought about using a pick up line but that wouldn't work on a classy girl like Judy. No, he needed to bring up a suitable topic. But what? Time was running short. He was now standing beside her.

He didn't bother placing an order, but the bartender continued to look at him until he did. So he placed it safe and went with water because he wanted to be sober for Judy. The bartender shook his head, then handed Boris his glass of water. Boris took a sip then cleared his throat, ready to speak his first words to Judy. "So... you like beyblades?" Duh. Of course she does! A voice in his head yelled. Why else would she be working at a _Beyblading _company?

Judy glanced to her right, seemingly not interested at the sight of Boris. There was no look of repulsion in her eyes though so at least Boris knew she wasn't going to throw a glass in his face. "Uh, yeah." She turned around again, ignoring him completely. That hurt his pride. Boris didn't like being ignored.

So he tried again. "Would you like to see my Beyblade?"

That caught Judy's attention. The blonde beauty turned around, raising a confused brow. "Your what?"

Boris cleared his throat, keeping his eyes trained on Judy's sea blue eyes. Max really didn't look like his father at all. He couldn't see Trevor's genetics in Max at all. "My Beyblade," he repeated.

She snorted, giving him a disdainful look. "Sorry, but I don't want to see anything of yours."

Ouch. That was a kick in the pants. Boris wanted to give up now and save his pride from being damaged further, but his legs would simply not move. "But it's great," he replied weakly.

"Can't you take no for an answer?" she spat, her eyes narrowed. "Maybe if you knew how to quit, you wouldn't be the person you are," she added.

Did she just insult the great and mighty Boris again? He was really beginning to lose his 'coolness' now. "Like you can talk," he retorted. Now he was getting flashbacks of his early days in highschool. Lots of backstabbing and hurtful petty comments thrown back and forth, but in his defense, Judy started it.

She flicked a lock of blond hair over her shoulder. "I'm not a bad person. Everything I have ever done was for my baby boy's wellbeing."

Boris snorted. "Coaching your son's rival team is a good thing?" he mocked.

"It was the only way to test his true skill."

"You're a poor parent." A low blow, but Boris no longer cared. Judy wasn't a nice person. No wonder Trevor left her. Or did she leave him?

"What would you know about parenting Boris?" she spat.

The truth was Boris actually knew quite a fair bit. Back in the early days of the Abbey, it was Boris' responsibility to raise the young kids. Voltaire couldn't be bothered; he always came up with some lame excuse not to look after the children so Boris was left with the horrible tasks. Cooking breakfast, preparing lunch, cooking dinner, cleaning beds, showing the boys how to go to the toilet... he really didn't earn enough respect. "More than you think."

Now Judy turned her entire body around to face him. "Why are you even talking to me, Boris?"

Good question, why was he still talking to her anyway? It was obvious she didn't care about him. "I was hoping we could talk about the future of beyblading together. You have proven to be quite an intelligent woman, but I guess I was wrong. No wonder your husband left you." Boris pushed his glass back to the bartender, then prepared to head back to his friends, but Judy stopped him.

"He didn't leave me. I left him," Judy said at Boris' retreating figure.

Ah, so he had been correct in his assumption. She did seem like the type to do the heartbreaking. He turned around again. "Why?" he blurted out.

She shrugged. "He stopped paying attention to me as soon as I got the job at the PBB headquarters. He never cared for science in the beginning, but he always made an effort to feign interest. But as soon as I got the job, he lost interest. He only cared about selling beyblading parts," she said calmly. "So after a few months I made the decision to leave him." She grabbed her drink of the counter and took a big sip, then placed it back down again.

"You come here to the bar to forget those times?"

She shook her head. "I come here to move on. You never know who you might meet at the bar."

A cheesy comment entered Boris' head, but he decided not to say anything about it. Instead, he nodded. "Yes. It is an interesting place. Lots of interesting people to see and do." And do. Literally. Judy was the most do-able of the lot by far, but would she go that far with him? Wait. What was he thinking?

She moved closer to him, the aroma of her perfume filling his nostrils. Her eyes never left his face, and his never left hers. "So Boris..." she started, lacing her fingers in between his. "I'm curious. Are you all talk?"

"Uh..." Way to make yourself look really intelligent Boris! His brain searched for a response. "Nope. I'm a man of action." Which wasn't a lie. He did spend a lot of time talking, but he always attempted to turn his words into action. Sometimes life just got in the way.

She looked at him with newfound interest. "What action?" She almost smirked.

"I'll show you." Many ideas, mostly naughty ones, raced through Boris' mind. He had scored big time. He gave himself an imaginary pat on the back for his efforts. Perhaps this was the beginning of a new relationship. And so, Boris led Judy out of the bar, casting a wink in the direction of his friends. Friday nights were indeed good ones. Boris Waldo Valkov had triumphed.

.

Isn't Boris awesome? I know he's pretty unpopular, but I love him. You'll be seeing more Boris stories from me in the future... the guy needs more love. Oh, if you're wondering where the Waldo line comes from, it was a name myself and Nirianne came up with. She used it in her Boris story titled, 'Mommy's Little Boy' and I recommend you read it for a good laugh.

Reviews are much appreciated, as always!


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